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Suess, Bigelow hot milestones for K-M

Wed, 09/13/2017 - 6:00pmadmin

By:

Chris Schad DCI Sports Editor

When it comes to the current state of the Kasson- Mantorville program, there are two names on the roster that have helped get the KoMets to a competitive level. Peyton Suess has been at the varsity level since she was in eighth grade and her tremendous ability to finish has earned her a scholarship to Wake Forest. Meanwhile, Abbey Bigelow has also been key in setting her teammates up to help the KoMets put points on the board since her debut on the varsity team roughly two seasons ago.

With that kind of teamwork, it was fitting that both girls reached milestones last week as Suess registered her 1,000th kill against Winona on September 5 and Bigelow recorded her 1000th assist against Lakeville North on September 8.

“Both of them have bene tted from playing with each other and from playing on competitive teams at K-M,” K-M volleyball coach Adam VanOort said. “Volleyball is the ultimate team sport and without good players around you, it’s tough to get those kind of stats. I’m expecting both Peyton and Abbey to achievea lot more success before their high school careers are over.”

The success of Suess and Bigelow have been an important part of the KoMets’ consistency over the past couple years, but the team couldn’t find that same level this past week as they picked up a win over Winona, but didn’t have the same game at the Marshall Invitational this past weekend.

Against the Winhawks, things looked similar to what the KoMets had put together against Rochester Century in their opening match. After a brief Winona lead in the first set, K-M rebounded and used a strong rally to take the opening set 25-15. The momentum carried into the second set with a 25-19 victory before the two teams went back and forth in the final set before edging out a 29-27 victory for the clincher.

That set up the stage at the Marshall Invitational, which featured a deep pool of competition for the KoMets to improve upon. With an opportunity at hand to make an early season statement, K-M zzled and didn’t quite have the same level of consistency that they had displayed in their previous matches.

“We were not able to consistently play well at all in Marshall,” VanOort lamented. “We played very sloppy at times, gave away a lot of shots and just didn’t perform at a level that meets our own expectations.” The KoMets opened the 32-team tournament well earning a 2-0 win over Totino-Grace in the opening round on September 8. K-M would then face the team that would eventually win the tournament in Lakeville North and fell in straight sets to the Panthers.

Things would open up well on September 9 with a victory over Bloomington Je erson, but from there things fell apart. The KoMets wouldn’t win another set the rest ofthe tournament and fell to Tracy-Milroy-Balaton and Eastview to nish 12th for the tournament.

“In my opinion, we should have went 4-1 in this tournament, but we just did not play disciplined or clean volleyball after our first match on Saturday and it cost us,” VanOort said of the performance. “We definitely saw a number of areas in which we need to improve if we are going to compete well in our conference and subsection this year. I feel we’ve taken a step backwards since the Century match.”

With a 4-3 record on the season, the KoMets will open their HVL schedule on Thursday night at Zumbrota- Mazeppa before hosting Bethlehem Academy on September 18 and traveling to Goodhue on September 19.

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